Casio PX-S3000 Review: Mid-Range Digital Piano – 2023
Casio has a unique name in the legacy of pianos. The brand got quite synonymous with keyboards, and at some point, people were of the thought that Casio is the other name for keyboards. By the year 1980s, the brand started to create pianos that got synonymous with fun, cost-effectiveness, and portability. But Casio did work hard to transcend its image of associating with toy-like sets to more professional and realistic pianos. The PX series is the brainchild of that effort. The Privia line of portable digital pianos with professional keyboards and exceptional sound quality fetched Casio its unique position in the league of professional pianos.
Table of Contents
Casio PX-S3000 Digital Piano Review
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.1 |
| Connectivity | 9.1 |
| Build Quality | 8.8 |
| Value for money | 9.3 |
What’s Best in Casio PX-S3000?
- The S3000 has 192-note polyphony which is good enough to play any song regardless of the genre. It allows playing layered songs as well.
- The keys have ebony and ivory simulations to render a textured surface.
- The LED screen helps with better navigation.
- DSP effects to edit songs
What’s Lacking in Casio PX-S3000?
- The keys have a reduced pivot length to accommodate the small chassis of the piano.
- The glossy finish attracts dust and is prone to scratches.
Top Specifications of the PX-S3000
Almost everything about the PX-S3000 seems awesome, be it the acoustic piano sounds, the build quality, or its accompaniment features, it gives a true sense of playing a high-end piano. The S3000 is priced very reasonably and is truly the best price for its audio effects, speakers, and connectivity features. The top specs of this piano are,
- An extremely lightweight and portable piano that weighs just 11.4 kg
- Smart scaled hammer action keyboard
- 88 full-size keys
- Five types of touch sensitivity
- AiR multi-directional sound source
- 700 instrument sounds with 192 note polyphony
- 3-track MIDI recorder with 200 built-in rhythms
- Editable DSP parameters
- 17 temperament options with acoustic simulators
- Awesome connectivity features.
The First Look of the Casio PX-S3000 Piano
The alphabet S in the Casio PX-S3000 is a mark of its ‘slim factor’. It is an extremely lightweight and portable piano that weighs slightly over 11 kg. Thus, you can easily carry it around your home, for your practice and also for your concerts. The entire PX series of Casio seems to focus on innovation and thus the piano apart from being slim and lightweight is also great in playability.
The PX-S series enjoy excellent sound quality secondary to enhanced acoustic simulation, thanks to its adaptation from the Celviano series, the best acoustic-digital hybrid for sound sampling.
Its external chassis is extremely slim and the dimensions of this piano are about 52” x 9.1” x 4”. This is close to the PX-S1000 and both these pianos belong to the slimmest categories of the 88 keys fully weighted digital pianos in the market.
We should discuss its looks in detail, as it catches our eyes at the first glimpse. The S3000 features a glossy plastic finish, which is also a fingerprint magnet on the downside. But the finish renders it a professional and beautiful look at the very first instance. Its controls are based on capacitive touch, the same we feel with our tablets and smartphones.
The control panel looks plain and simple as there are buttons only for power and volume. There is also a pitch bend wheel and two assignable knobs. The other controls are touch-based and will light up when the piano is switched on, stylish and modern addition to the piano indeed. The backlit controls are very much visible even in low light. There is also a 3-line LED screen making navigation across the piano pretty much simpler.
You can also make use of the Chordana Play app for iOS and Android users to get accustomed to the controls and functions better. Also, this piano is battery powered and we will require 6 AA batteries for two hours of continuous playtime. This feature helps the pianist to carry it anywhere without having to worry about power lines.
Thus, the PX-S3000 is housed in solid construction and features the best design, and is ideal for anybody seeking a smooth and uninterrupted playing experience.
Related Review: Casio PX-770 Review
How the Keyboard Sounds
After explaining in detail how this keyboard looks, our next focus is on how it functions and how it handles the various sounds stored in it. The PX-S series is completely new and has updated all of the older sounds that were available with the Privia series. Its AiR sound engine has also undergone an up-gradation with new sample sets. Its reverb, simulation, and resonance algorithms have improved a lot helping people to create masterpieces with their instruments.
The piano is capable of creating 700 different sounds which is an excellent and tremendous up-gradation over the mere 18 sounds created by the PX-S1000. The sounds of the piano comprise grand pianos, electric pianos, guitars, basses, organs, strings, harpsichords, wind instruments, drum kits, etc.
The different sounds are grouped under different buttons that are found on the front panel. For instance, the ‘others’ button will take you across the different instruments and allows you to choose the sound you wish. Also, as far as the S3000 is concerned, there is no cut-off point. There is no switching between the tones and thus you can sustain a sound and switch to another and get both the sounds sounding.
The sounds of this piano are sampled from a 9-foot concert grand piano and the main attractive feature of these sounds is their versatility. Integration with the acoustic simulation from the Celviano series helps the pianist to modify different parameters of the piano sound. You can modify the resonance, damper noise, and string resonance in four different intensities and you can switch it off as well.
Check out: Casio CGP-700 Review
The Sound Effects
The various sound effects of this piano are the reverb, hall simulator, virtual surround sound modeling, etc. Each of these effects has different algorithms, each of them sounding great. Special mention on the surround sound setting of the piano that simulates virtual surround and creates an illusion that the sounds are coming from different directions.
Alternatively, you can choose to use the digital signal processing effect to edit the tunes extensively. Each of the DSP effects selected can have four modules, that can be mixed and matched to create one’s own custom effect with their music chain. You can also include the chorus and the brilliance effects with the DSP effects to create your own audience base.
The piano has the best speaker system that sounds great with a wide stereo field. The piano has two speakers that are powered by an 8W amplifier each. As the speakers are at the rear, it is a good choice to place the piano against the wall for the best sound reflection.
How Best You Can Play With the PX-S3000?
The S3000 from Casio bags a number of playability features that are generally not found on digital pianos. There are three modes, namely the layer mode, duet play mode, and the split mode. The layer modes allow the pianist to play a string instrument on top of the keyboard, both tunes layering into each other. In the split mode, the keyboard divides into the left and right portions to play two different instrument sounds.
The duel play mode is the lesson mode where the keyboard is divided into two small units to help the teacher and the student play parallel and learn the nuances. The Auto accompaniment mode allows a background track to play while the pianist works on the keys, creating the so-called one-man music band. As there are more than 200 built-in rhythms you have ample options to choose the genres according to your preference.
The PX-S3000 comes preloaded with six demo songs, for practice and you can also record your own songs with the help of a MIDI recorder. You can record three tracks per song and you can save up to five songs in the internal memory of the piano. You can also make use of the audio recorder feature to record your own playing. These songs can be transferred to the computer or smart devices later.
Note: This Piano also features in our list of best digital pianos under $1500.
Connectivity Features
- There are two mini-stereo headphone jacks to connect with headphones
- ¼” Line-out jacks help to connect with studio interfaces or PA systems for quality sound recording.
- The Audio-in mini jacks help to connect the phone or music player and play back the songs with the help of the speakers. You can also consider Bluetooth audio for this feature.
- The USB to host port connects the S3000 to the supported devices. This is the way to connect with the Chordana app and it serves as a MIDI connection as well.
- The USB flash drive port connects with flash drives to save the songs.
- There are three pedal jacks, namely the damper pedal jack, the expression pedal jack, and the three-pedal unit jack.
In a Nutshell
The PX-S3000 is a pioneer of pianos and has the best sound system and navigation features. It is available at an attractive price, forcing people to consider this over other high-end pianos. Its capability to create 700 sounds and the ability to add more effects with the DSP setting amazes people. This piano is definitely worth the investment, considering the huge quantum of music effects from such a small piano.
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